Improvement in thill-couplings



UNITED "STATES PATENT QFrrcE;

GEORGE W. HOBART, OF LOWELL, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, JEROME B. MELVIN, OFTEWKESBURY, AND JAMES H. PINDAR, OF LOWELL,

MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN THlLL-COUPLINGS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 138,087, dated April22, 1873; application filed August 31, 1872.

To all whom itrmay concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. HOBART, of Lowell, in the county ofMiddlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented an ImprovedSupplementary Thill- Coupling, of which the following is aspecification:

My invention relates to a safety attachment for connecting the thills ofcarriages to the axle-trees of the same, for the purpose of supplyingthe place of the ordinary coupling when the latter is accidentallybroken or uncoupled and consists in a draft-rod and a loop, (either oneof which is attached to the thill and the other to the axle-tree of acarriage,) said draftrod passing through said loop, and terminating inan enlarged head; or, instead of said draft-rod, another loop may beused, as hereinafter described.

The accompanying drawing represents my invention.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my invention, showing the draft-rodand loop attached to the thill and axletree, respectively, only a partof the thill and axle-tree being shown. Fig. 2 is a perspective view ofanother form of my invention, showing the two loops. Fig. 3 shows thedetached loop. Fig. 4 shows the detached rod. Fig. 5 shows a draft-rodcurved to adapt it to be used with the loop herein shown, the latterbeing dropped down from the front end of the yoke, and at a right angleto said yoke. Fig. 6 shows the loop at the rear end of the yoke, and ata rightangle to the yoke.

A is the bed piece of the axle-tree of a carriage. K is the axle-tree. Bis the clasp or clip, which passes over the bed-piece A and theaxle-tree K, the ends of said clip terminating in screws which passthrough the yoke G.

below the axle-tree into threaded nuts, in the usual manner. From theclip B two studs project forward, and are punched or drilled to receivethe bolt F, which passes also through the shaft-eye G. The shaft-eye Gis secured to the shaft or thill by bolts H H, in the usual manner. Ihave now described the thill-coupling in common use on light carriages.I increase the length of the yoke O in front, caus ing it to reach underthe rear end of the shaft, as in Fig. 1. The projecting forward end ofthe 'yoke O has in it a vertical longitudinal slot,

and is curved slightly downward. Through this slot or loop passes thedraft-rod D, which has an enlarged head at one end, marked E, and at theother end is flattened into a plate. The flat end of the draft-rod D issecured below the shaft-eye G by the bolts H H, which pass through thethill, the shaft-eye, and said flat end of said draft-rod, into threadednuts. The enlarged head E of the draft-rod is wider than the slot in theyoke 0, through which said yoke passes, so that if the bolt F breaks, oris lost out of place, the head E will prevent the shaft from becomingentirely disconnected from the ax1e-tree, and the carriage may be drawnsafely by the draft-rod and loop until the horse can be stopped, or evenuntil a new coupling can be obtained. Instead of the arrow-shaped headE, the draftrod may end in a T or cross bar, or any other enlargement.Instead of the draft-rod D, another loop may be used, as shown in Fig.2, the loop being attached to the shaft in the same manner as the rod D,by the bolts H H, represented in Fig. 1, the ends of said loop L beingflattened and punched for that purpose, the two loops linking into eachother, or two loops, such as described, may be connected by a link.

The draft -rod and the loop may change places with each other.

The loop on the yoke 0 may be dropped down at a right angle to saidyoke, and in this case may be either at the front end of said yoke, asin Fig. 5, or at the rear end of said yoke, as in Fig. 6.

The advantages of my invention are, that it furnishes a greater securityagainst accidents (in case the thill-coupling proper breaks) than theleather safety-strap now commonly employed, because the former is lessliable to be injured by exposure to the weather than the latter, andalso because there is less friction of the parts of my invention, sothat they do not wear out as quickly as a strap, and that the parts ofmy invention cannot be separated by accident, unless they are broken.

I claim as my invention- 7 The loop on the yoke O, in combination withthe draft-rod D or the loop L, substantially as and for the purposeherein described.

GEORGE HOBART.

Witnesses:

ALBERT M. MOORE, NATHANIEL HILL.

